


Good Things

by GreenFire66



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Canon quote, First Kiss, M/M, Marriage, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Retirement, Widofjord Week, soft bois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 03:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenFire66/pseuds/GreenFire66
Summary: “Fjord is still here, and that’s the important thing… let’s focus on the good things in our lives.”-Or, Fjord and Caleb explore the positives of their travels as the Mighty Nein, including the growing relationship between each other.





	Good Things

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact; this fic was originally going to be about half of its size. But. I just kept typing. Oops? Happy Widofjord Week?

_ “Fjord is still here, and that’s the important thing… let’s focus on the good things in our lives.” _

Those were the words Caleb muttered after the party had regrouped. Fjord, still remembering how it felt to breathe again, glanced up at Caleb. Fjord’s life had flashed before his eyes in those few moments, both the life he had lived and the life he wished he could have lived.

He saw Caleb in those seconds, felt regrets that he would never spend another night watching Caleb’s face of concentration from across the flickering campfire as he read, or might never again hear the wizard’s accent pronounce Fjord’s name in a way that was so uniquely  _ Caleb _ that caused Fjord’s heart to do a little flip every time it happened.

Felt fear at the realization that he would die with his feelings. Felt a swarm of mixed emotions at the fact that this stupid crush of his would remain known only to him.

Felt mournful that he would never have the chance to explore these feelings.

“Yeah… I. Thanks, Caleb,” Fjord replied, and quickly dipped his head back to stare at the dirt.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

Caleb forced his anger down, slinging Fjord’s arm over his shoulder as the group made their way out of the Iron Shepard’s dungeon. The surge of emotions could wait until later. Later, when they were rested and recuperated and Caleb had a moment to open a book and lose himself in the literature. Save the emotions for when he could escape from this headspace.

Escape from these feelings that surged in his heart and threatened to climb out of his throat.

It wasn't long before the group made their way up the stairs, and one by one the group began to lower their guard and accept the respite.

Caleb got to work stringing the thread around the room. As he moved, he allowed himself to ease up as he looked over the tired, worn-out, but very much _ there and alive _ faces of his previously missing companions. The spell finished, and Caleb quickly moved to cast his next spell, one he hated himself for not having sooner.

After an arcane flourish and a mumbled set of syllables, Caleb opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed and found himself encapsulated in an earthy brown dome.

Caleb huffed a laugh. At least he could do that.

One by one Caleb expanded the magical force to allow for his teammates to enter the dome. And if Caleb allowed himself a smile at Fjord's reaction to being pulled in? If Caleb took a moment to surveil everyone's condition, safe and resting and  _ together  _ under the dome? If Caleb listened to Fjord's soft breathing as he slept and took note of how his little snores tightened Caleb's heartstrings as relief flooded over?

Well, if that was the case, that was for Caleb to know.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

The party’s escape from Darktow left much to be desired. But at the same time, it could have gone worse.

Much worse, Fjord told himself, as his brain brought back up the sight of Caleb’s body skidding to a halt on the pavement. Fjord dropped every precaution as he ran to Caleb, begging and pleading to his patron and any entity willing to listen to help him help Caleb.

When Caleb coughed awake in Fjord’s arms, Fjord let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

_ I love you _ , Fjord realized as Caleb stood up. Fjord stayed kneeled to the ground, transfixed as his eyes followed Caleb’s every movement.  _ I love you, and I can’t stand to see you hurt again. _

The fireball flared out of Caleb’s hand, the heat radiating off of Caleb as the orb propelled into Avantika’s ship. And Fjord shuddered at the power that coursed through Caleb’s veins and through hands that so delicately and intricately weaved the arcane arts into this world. 

And then Caleb was tackled to the ground by the guards, and Fjord couldn’t voice a word before being taken down as well. For Caleb’s safety, Fjord didn’t bother trying to resist, just kept his focus on Caleb, made sure that he was safe.

Now back on the Squall Eater, dubbed the Ball Eater, because the Mighty Nein had the collective maturity of a nine-year old, Fjord found himself lost in the night sky. With his arms crossed, Fjord leaned on the railing and tried to allow himself to get over the events of the day, to accept them and move on.

But every time he stopped thinking, his mind jumped back to Caleb’s shout as he was struck, how Fjord’s heart stopped and his body moved before he had a chance to process his actions.

_ I love him. _ Fjord reflected as he dropped his gaze to the ocean water. Fjord watched the ripples ebb outwards as the ship continued to move forward.

Fjord forced out an exhale, though it calmed him significantly less than he had hoped.

_ At least he’s safe now. _ Fjord rubbed the back of his neck, pushing aside his feelings.  _ That’s what matters. He’s safe. I’ll do everything I can to keep it that way. _

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

Caleb stared at the scar that etched his palm, rotated his hand in the candlelight to take in and memorize each jagged line that came from the act. Cut palm to cut palm, they shook.  _ “Always”,  _ Fjord had promised to him, in front of an altar that shared their mingled blood in the bottom of an ocean that had stolen Fjord’s past from him and had potentially damned him to this new life.

_ Always. _

Caleb's heart surged at the very word. What had Fjord meant by that?  _ Always _ Fjord would be able and willing to return the favor?  _ Always  _ Fjord and Caleb stick by each other's side?  _ Always  _ would the blood of the other flow through their veins?

Or… _always_ would Caleb feel this infatuation that threatened to tighten in his chest until the day he died. _Always_ would Fjord’s mere presence be an anchor that kept Caleb grounded. _Always_ would Caleb resist that nagging urge to flee from the party by thinking of how Fjord had asked Caleb, _trusted_ Caleb, to “right the ship”. 

Caleb’s hand clenched into a fist that covered the scar on his palm as he took a shaky breath.

The journal entry that night spoke of favors and promises, of futures unknown and potential solutions. Caleb’s hand shook as the ink pen scratched against the pages.

It continued to shake as he lay in bed that night and stared at the palm, and he bid his mind not to focus on the seemingly invisible thread of fate that stretched from his scarred palm to Fjord’s.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

They had won the fight. And Fjord was just happy that at least that much was true. He tried not to think about the fact that part of the fight was blurred from when consciousness had slipped his grasp, tried not to think of Caduceus, charred and dead on the ground, saved by Jester’s diamond and quick actions.

Tried not to think of Caleb, dying and healed and struck down again in a circular pattern that made Fjord’s heart lurch everytime he could spare a glance in Caleb’s direction.

Fjord’s mind, however, was unable to shake the mental draw that the Incubus used to lure him in.  _ “Join your friend,”  _ the voice whispered as it beckoned to Caleb, glassy-eyed and preparing another spell of fire.

And Fjord knew there was no counter, no way to resist that. He would fight the world for Caleb. Would die for Caleb. Would do anything to stand by Caleb’s side rather than against it.

And it wasn’t until the heat from Caleb’s flames flared against his skin did Fjord realize just how his mind had been played, and he grit his teeth with determination. They had to snap Caleb out of it.

And they did. And they won. That was what Fjord needed to focus on.

Under the dome, Fjord rested his back against the cavern wall and sank into the darkness of his closed eyes. They were safe.

_ He  _ was safe.

Fjord did what he could, he stood in front of Caleb’s bleeding body, used himself as a shield to buy Jester time to drag Caleb behind a wall. Caleb’s safety was the final thought Fjord had before the demon’s attack sent him sprawling to the ground.

From next to where he sat, Fjord heard the sound of tentative footsteps approach, and Fjord lifted an eye open.

And quickly lifted his head when he realized Caleb was staring at him with a look of apprehension.

“Caleb?”

Caleb’s eyes flicked to Fjord and the empty space next to him before his neck turned and his eyes were cast to the ground. Fjord stared at the wizard, tried to assess the situation in a desperate attempt to understand. To make sure he wasn’t reading the atmosphere wrong.

Fjord pat the ground next to him and offered Caleb a gentle smile. Words felt unneeded, like an extension that would break the fragile moment.

The pause was an eternity, after Caleb’s head shot to meet Fjord’s gaze and stared at him. Mutely, Caleb nodded and sat next to Fjord. Fjord watched as Caleb stared at his right hand, palm and scar up, and scratched at his arm.

“None of that.” Fjord stretched his left arm up and over Caleb’s back and let his hand rest against Caleb’s shoulder. “You need some fuckin’ rest, Cay.”

And Fjord thought he fucked up, big time, if the way in which Caleb’s eyes flared open was any indication. But before Fjord could retract his hand and mutter an apology about overstepping boundaries, Caleb let out a shaky breath as he seemed to relax into the semi-embrace.

Caleb’s eyes closed, and Fjord took note in how both of their breathes began to even out as the minutes passed. 

At some point, when Fjord had begun to swim in the darkness of eyes once again closed, he felt Caleb shuffle next to him. In the next moment, he felt the weight of Caleb’s head pressed against his chest, over his heart.

Fjord shifted to better accommodate for Caleb before settling further against the cavern wall. Caleb's rhythmic inhales brought a sense of calm to Fjord as he drifted off to sleep.

***

_ “Focus on the good things _ .”

That’s what Caleb told himself as they marched out of the Bright Queen’s chamber, now proclaimed heroes of the Dynasty. 

They were down a dodecahedron, sure, but they had their lives. Caleb is just grateful to have that, despite the glare that Beau keeps sending him or the look of nervousness plastered on Jester's face.

But Fjord… Fjord stood in front of the party in their room and told them that he agreed with Caleb’s plan. That he felt that giving the beacon to the dynasty was the smart move, a bold calculation that paid off.

Fjord’s affirmation sat with Caleb for the rest of the day, and the tightening in Caleb’s chest only exaggerated itself further once Fjord and Caleb were alone in their shared bedroom. Caleb meticulously strung the silver wire around the perimeter of the room before sitting down with his open tome on the floor. Behind him, he felt Fjord’s stare from where he sat on the bed. 

Caleb’s brain counted the seconds as they passed, and he found himself dreading the end, when he no longer would have an excuse to not stand up and join Fjord in the bed. An act that Caleb had done numerous times in his dreams, but the mere idea of it now threatened to tear down what little rational thought he had left.

The spell ended, and Caleb watched as the arcane energy surged out of his tome and faintly illuminated the thread that spanned the perimeter of the room. Hesitantly, Caleb made his way to the bed and laid down on his side, with his back turned to Fjord. 

Caleb closed his eyes and reflected on the day’s events. He thought about every one of his decisions, scrutinized every memorized word that came out of someone’s mouth. Wondered what he missed, where he went wrong. He should have realized that the Bright Queen’s guard was involved with the attack on the border, should have recognized the danger of walking head-first into her quarters, especially considering his race. 

The group was becoming too risky, they were wrapped up in too many potential liabilities. Too many connections to too many high-powered individuals. Too many loose ends. Too many-

Caleb felt a hand on his arms, and his head whipped around behind him.

“... Caleb?” Fjord asked and Caleb saw Fjord stare at the spell-charged hand that Caleb raised. Caleb let out a breath, forcing the spell’s energy to dissipate. “You… okay? You were shakin' like a leaf.”

Caleb’s gaze caught Fjord’s stare.

“Sorry,” Caleb muttered, realizing he likely woke Fjord up. He should’ve kept it in better, should’ve controlled himself better. He needs to be better, he needs-

“You’re doing it again,” Fjord said with a stare that grounded Caleb. “Breathe, Caleb.” 

Fjord’s thumb, with the hand still resting on Caleb’s arm, rubbed slow circles on the bare skin, and Caleb began to will his body to breathe. 

_ Refocus. Center yourself.  _

As Caleb looked back to Fjord, his eyes latched onto the trimmed tusks that poked out from a soft smile.

“There ya’ go,” Fjord whispered as Caleb’s breaths stabilized. “Feelin’ any better?”

Caleb nodded, slowly. He took note of the hand that still rested against his arm, an anchor against the stormy sea of his mind.

“ _ Danke _ , Fjord.” Caleb felt his face flush slightly. “I, uh. Appreciate you.”

And Fjord stared. Caleb tracked Fjord’s gaze as it flicked from Caleb’s eyes to the hand that rested on Caleb’s arm, now disturbingly still, then seemingly looked just under Caleb’s eyes.

Fjord swallowed down air, and he seemed to bite his bottom lip ever-so-slightly.

“Y-yeah,” Fjord finally replied. “I appreciate you too, Caleb.”

Caleb had a plan, he had a monologue. There was a way this conversation was supposed to go that his brain was telling him to follow, words that needed to be said to illustrate to Fjord just how much he appreciated him. But as Caleb stared at those eyes that seemed to pierce into his very core, Caleb’s script slipped from his fingers.

Silence stretched out between the two, and Caleb counted the seconds as they transitioned into minutes. He should sleep. They should sleep. It had been a long day today and they likely had a long day tomorrow and-

“Caleb.” Fjord’s voice broke Caleb’s thoughts. Fjord shuffled closer, and Caleb turned to face Fjord, confused. “Stop me if…” Fjord trailed off as he inched closer until his forehead rested against Caleb’s. Caleb drew in a breath.

“Stop me.” Fjord repeated.

Caleb didn’t.

Fjord’s lips pressed against Caleb’s, chaste, sweet, and far too brief. When Fjord drew back, Caleb’s eyes met his, and Caleb saw the vulnerability in Fjord’s expression. 

Caleb felt the hand on his arm tremble.

“You scared me today, Cay,” Fjord whispered. “I had no idea what shit you were plannin’ when we were surrounded. I didn’t know what to do, how to help. You drew the attention to yourself and all I could do was fear the worst.”

“It’s alright, Fjord,” Caleb replied. “It worked out. We’re safe.”

“Thanks to your quick thinking. Just…” Fjord let out a shaky breath. “I need you safe, Caleb.” Fjord wrapped his arm around Caleb loosely, and despite the voice in the back of Caleb’s that pleaded to get out, to leave no room for attachment, to not do anything that would prevent an easy escape: Caleb complied. He scooted closer until his face rested under Fjord’s neck, and Fjord moved so that he was laying down on his back, with Caleb using his shoulder and upper chest as a pillow.

“This is… okay?”

Fjord chuckled softly, and Caleb could feel his smile. “More than.” 

Caleb nodded against Fjord’s bare skin, and allowed himself to rest his eyes. His breathing evened out, and he counted the seconds until his brain began to relax.

The soft kiss that Fjord pressed to the top of his head was the last thing Caleb felt as his consciousness faded.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

Get to Caleb.

That was the first thought that crossed Fjord’s mind the moment the creature’s grip loosened up on him. He spared hardly a second to press a kiss to Jester’s cheek as a rushed gesture of gratitude before he dashed forward, orbs of eldritch energy flaring from his hands and towards the creature that held Caleb in its grasp.

He was an idiot, a fool. He should have ridden on Caleb’s moorbounder, should never have left Caleb vulnerable. He wanted to check their side flank, but he hadn’t anticipated an attack from behind.

_ Stupid runt.  _ His brain reminded him, and he could do nothing but futilely run forward as he watched the creature open its mouth-stomach and attempt to swallow Caleb whole.

Fjord’s heart stopped, and there was barely a moment that passed before Beau was on the monster, a flurry of punches that left it dead and with a dying Caleb dangling from its mouth. Caduceus was in the process of healing Caleb by the time Fjord was close enough to stand near them.

He wanted to bend down, wanted to help Caleb up. Wanted to apologize for not being near him, for not helping Caleb in such a dire time of need.

Caleb groaned as he stood. He was clutching his side, and he looked at everyone mutely before he turned to walk to a more covered area of the woods.

_ I’m sorry… _ And in that moment Fjord wished he had a copper wire and the ability to send the thoughts he was too cowardly to say.

When the group rested up for the night, it was all Fjord could do to offer silent comfort to Caleb, who curled up and rested his head in Fjord’s lap as he slept. Fjord ran his fingers through Caleb’s auburn hair and took in the quiet snores as Caleb drifted off to sleep.

_ I’m sorry. I’ll do better. You deserve better. _

They hadn’t talked about that night in the Bright Queen’s chamber, hadn’t talked about that night Caleb went to Fjord’s room and Caleb drudged up parts of Fjord’s past in a way that no one had before. Hadn’t talked about Fjord’s promise to tell Caleb more at a later time.

Hadn’t talked about how Fjord trusted Caleb more than he has ever trusted anyone before.

Fjord enclosed his hand around Caleb’s, cut palm to cut palm, and Caleb’s snoring paused for the briefest of moments before Fjord felt Caleb squeeze his hand lightly around Fjord’s.

They had each other. And Fjord allowed himself a moment to relax as he shut his eyes.

They had each other, and that’s what mattered.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

“None of you should be here. This is my fight, my problem,” Caleb choked out as his hands dug into Fjord’s shoulders. “I cannot ask you all to risk yourselves for me.”

“No one is making you ask us, Cay.” Caleb felt Fjord's hands enclose over his own and squeeze them gently. "I'm going with ya', whether you ask or not. Hells, I'm sure that's true for all of us." Caleb shook his head and averted his gaze as silence filled the space. "We care about you, Caleb," Fjord continued, and Caleb could feel his gaze. "I-"

"That is not the point, Fjord," Caleb interrupted, and pushed down the brief feeling that arose from Fjord's statement. "The point is that Ikithon and his compatriots are too dangerous for any of us to take on. I cannot risk… I can't let…"

Caleb shook his head. "I can't lose you, Fjord."

Caleb felt a finger brush lightly against his cheek, and it took him a moment to realize that Fjord was wiping tears away. "You think I don't feel the same?"

Caleb dropped his head as he exhaled, letting it fall to Fjord's chest more out of instinct than intent. "That's… that's not…"

The hands over Caleb's lifted, and for a brief moment Caleb hoped that Fjord finally saw reason. That Fjord finally agreed that both the fight and Caleb were a lost cause.

And then one hand encircled around Caleb's back and the other weaved itself into Caleb's hair, soothingly scratching Caleb's scalp as Fjord silently held him.

Caleb stilled.

"Cay… I…" Fjord pressed his forehead against Caleb's, and Caleb nearly buckled against the weight of someone against him. "Please don't go without me."

"I…"

"I know you, Caleb. You were planning on leaving early in the morning without tellin' anyone." Fjord's hand in Caleb's hair tightened, and Caleb felt Fjord draw him closer in desperation. "Please… please don't. I want to be with you. I can't let you face this alone."

Tears stung Caleb's vision, and he shook his head vigorously, feeling the friction against Fjord.

"Fjord… this is not your fight."

"It damn well became my fight when I gave you my always."

Caleb had no response to that. Slowly, Caleb pulled himself out of Fjord's grasp. Sitting up, Caleb brushed the hair away from his eyes and met Fjord's gaze.

Mutely, Caleb held his right palm outward, and Fjord immediately enclosed Caleb's hand with his own.

"Always," Fjord repeated. A resolution Caleb had never seen before flooded Fjord's expression.

"Always… what, Fjord?"

Fjord's breath hitched at the question, and Caleb had half the mind to retract his question. To give Fjord an out. But Caleb was selfish, at his core, and so he didn’t. He needed to hear Fjord’s answer.

Fjord seemed to fumble for an answer as his eyes flicked about. “Always will I be by your side.” Fjord drew in a breath.

“How so, Fjord?” Caleb asked, because his brain was trying to fill in blanks he wasn’t even sure were there.

Fjord’s expression, to his credit, remained mostly the same. But Caleb felt the sweat accumulate from where their palms still clasped. Fjord ran a thumb along the back of Caleb’s hand, and Caleb exhaled at the touch.

“However you’ll have me.” Fjord answered without a beat of hesitation. “Just...”  

Caleb lifted his other hand to caress Fjord’s cheek, and Fjord leaned into the contact. There were words on the tip of Caleb’s tongue, but they all felt redundant. Unneeded. 

Caleb leaned in and pressed his lips to Fjord’s, who immediately reciprocated. Caleb scooted closer towards Fjord, and Fjord wrapped an arm around Caleb’s back.

Caleb’s mind scrambled to remember every distinct feeling that spiked his adrenaline. The feel of Fjord’s fingers as they slid under his shirt and caressed his back, or the feel of Fjord’s teeth against his lips as they both eagerly sought to find a rhythm that fit. Or the feeling of adoration Caleb felt when he opened his eyes to see Fjord, head against the pillow, looking up at him as though there wasn’t a single worry in the world. Stress-free was a good look for Fjord, Caleb decided in that moment. And he would do anything to keep Fjord this way.

Their lips met again, and Fjord whined at the contact.

“Cay, I…” Fjord started as he drew back. Caleb adjusted to lay next to Fjord, and they both turned on their sides to look at one another. Fjord looked at Caleb’s eyes, opened his mouth as if to speak again.

And silently drew Caleb in.

Caleb leaned into the embrace, resting his head against Fjord’s shoulder as Fjord wrapped both arms around Caleb.

Fjord pressed a kiss to the top of Caleb’s forehead.

“I’m going to fight like hell tomorrow for the chance to hold you again.”

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

Fjord was nervous. 

Realistically, he knew he had nothing to be worried about. Everything that they had done to get to this point?  _ That _ was when he was justified to have the feelings of anxiety that threatened to swallow Fjord whole. He should be enjoying today, they all should. That was the point.

All he had to do was stick with the plan and say a few words. There was nothing to worry about.

He fidgeted at the cuff that rubbed against his wrist. Hells above, he was going to boil alive under the layers of this outfit. Truly, he never understood what the appeal to these upper-class tunics were. The sooner he could get out of these, the better.

_ “Oh, Fjord _ ~ _ ” _ Jester’s tell-tale voice rang inside his mind. His adrenaline spiked. “ _ We’re ready whenever you are.” _

Fjord let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as he did a quick look-over in the mirror. “Good enough,” he muttered to himself as he opened the door.

“‘Ey.” A voice greeted him.

“Howdy,” Fjord replied, and grinned as Beau continued to readjust the clothes that looked alien on her. She was dressed in an outfit similar to his, save for the accents of blue.

“You ready?” Beau asked as Fjord shut the door and they began their walk down the corridor.

“As if I can say no?”

Fjord’s heart quickened with every step they took, and he would have sworn that the sound of his hammering heartbeat filled the otherwise silent trek. In an amount of time that could’ve been hours or seconds, they reached their destination, and Beau gripped the handle of one of the double doors.

With a silent nod, she opened the door, and Fjord entered the room.

The ceremony room was small, as expected. Their friends were sitting in the two pews that faced the altar. Caduceus stood in the very center, and next to him-

Caleb. Dressed in a formal attire that looked dashing on him. His hair was drawn back in an elegant ponytail that hung over his shoulder as he turned to Fjord. He was nervous too, Fjord could tell just by looking at him, but there was another emotion there, one that Fjord could understand because he too felt it.

Had felt it ever since he first got on one knee and asked Caleb to marry him, so many months back.

_ He’s beautiful.  _

Fjord felt an elbow jab into his side.

“This is the part where you walk forward, dude.”

Fjord chuckled under his breath as he took the first step, then the next. Then the next.

His brain played those two words on repeat. Words that filled his dreams back when he was an orphan, naive to think he would have the opportunity to live a life that would merit an event such as this. Back when he was foolish enough to think he would meet someone who would see him as something other than the half-blooded monster he was.

Back before Caleb had shattered every bleak expectation Fjord had of his future.

Now? His envisioned future contained lazy mornings in bed waking up to auburn hair. It contained whispered Zemnian greetings and  _ “ich liebe dich” _ ’s and the scent of various incenses and other components. It contained a domesticity unfamiliar to either of them, one that would take time and patience to ease into.

That was his future. And this was now. But only two words separated them.

***

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

A startled laugh grabbed Caleb’s attention, and he looked up from the basket of food. 

The sun behind them made Caleb squint his eyes, but he could still make out Fjord and their son playing by the shore’s waves. Fjord flicked a tiny splash of water in Robin’s direction, and Robin giggled. The tiny half-orc stomped excitedly, watching with fascination as the water splashed around him. Fjord closed his eyes at the incoming splash, and laughed as he rubbed the water droplets off from his face. 

With a grunt of exertion, Fjord grabbed and lifted Robin as he stood up. Robin’s laughs filled the otherwise tranquil air as Fjord approached. “You good, darlin’?”

“Of course,” Caleb smiled as he held his arms forward, and Fjord passed along the toddler. 

And Caleb was very quickly reminded of the fact that Robin no longer weighed the same eight and a half pounds that he had roughly two years ago.  

“And how is my little  _ liebling _ ?” Caleb set Robin on his lap as he rummaged through the food basket once more. “Hungry?”

“Ya! Yes, ya!” Robin shouted with a growing smile. And Caleb chuckled at the way Robin still didn’t seem to quite grasp the Zemnian phonetics.

_ “Ja _ , you worked up an appetite.” Caleb pulled out and opened one of the containers of cut fruit pieces before handing it over to Robin.

“Bwue!” Robin ate one of the blueberries, and Fjord’s thumb wiped at the trail of juice that dripped down Robin’s chin.

“I’d imagine you’re hungry as well, eh, big guy?”

Fjord’s stomach growled, as if to answer the question, and Fjord grinned sheepishly. With a chuckle, Caleb pulled out two fish sandwiches, evident of Fjord’s haul from a couple of days ago. 

“Thanks,” Fjord accepted the sandwich and pressed a quick kiss to Caleb’s lips.

“I should be thanking you. You’re the one who made them.”

Fjord rubbed the back of his neck and took a bite.

Caleb remembered how Fjord seemed to slip into the domestic life. Sure, there were struggles, but over the first few months Fjord seemed to have a handle on cooking and gardening, if the plot of vegetables by the side of their house was any indicator. Caleb’s teaching job over at the nearby village kept him busy during the day, but coming home to a smiling and content Fjord was a sight that Caleb would never tire of.

Even years later, when Caleb would come home to two faces passed out on the couch. Caleb snickered the first time he saw Robin’s drool pooling on Fjord’s bare chest. 

He had his hesitation about taking on the role. Thoughts of fatherhood would occasionally skirt Caleb’s mind on nights when he was on the verge of sleep, cradled in Fjord’s arms. But Fjord never seemed to broach the topic and Caleb feared that he could not hope to be anything like his parents before him. 

And then Fjord found the baby one day after a quick early morning run to the general store. The boy was seemingly abandoned in a woven basket on the outskirts of town. The village had no orphanage to speak of.

Fjord came home after three hours of asking around town to no avail.

“I can’t… I can’t just ignore him, Cay,” Fjord pleaded that night, staring at the wrapped infant that had finally calmed down enough to sleep.

And Caleb looked at the closed eyes, the peaceful rise and fall of its chest, and knew there was only one option.

“ _ Ja _ . I know.” 

It took time, and there was certainly stress and tension during the first months. Neither of them were prepared for the change being parents would bring. Rearranging the house, figuring out what to do for food for little Robin, rehashing schedules and getting used to grumpy early mornings when they were awoken by the sound of shrieks.

But they made it work. And when Robin first pointed to Caleb and stumbled his way through a “da!”, Caleb could only smile a broken smile before handing Robin off to Fjord and exiting the room, wiping away tears. Fjord came out once Robin was asleep to soothingly rub Caleb’s back and press kisses against his temple.

***

“He’s going to be fine,” Caleb’s voice broke through the silence, and Fjord tilted his head to look at his husband, illuminated by the soft glow of the sunset sky. “Robin. He’s going to be fine there.”

“Ya’ sound more like you’re telling yourself that rather than me.” Fjord’s thumb ran circles over Caleb’s shoulder, near the claim mark Fjord had left so many years ago. “But you’re right, he will be fine.”

Caleb let out a shaky sigh, and Fjord ran a hand through the graying hair.

“Hey, he will be. The people who taught there when you went aren’t there anymore, Cay.” Fjord waited until Caleb turned to face him, and Caleb nodded once their gazes met. “Can you blame him for wanting to further his magical training? He had you for a father, after all.”

And Caleb rolled his eyes at that. “I distinctly recall a three year period where he wanted to be a pirate, ‘waging war against the baddies’, as I remember it. Are you to tell me that was purely my influence?”

“He was, like, seven.”

“Eight and four months.”

“Point bein’-” Fjord laughed. “He’s gonna do great there, Caleb.” 

Caleb let the silence carry over the conversation, and Fjord’s gaze went back to the same oceanic view that captured his heart for the past twenty-some years they had lived here. Caleb rested his head against Fjord’s shoulder, and Fjord drew him in closer.

_ “Focus on the good things.” _

_ “Ich liebe dich _ , Fjord,” Caleb murmured, and Fjord turned to meet Caleb for a quick kiss. 

“Love ya too, Cay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Any and all kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc, are greatly appreciated!


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